


In Spite Of The Uneven Odds

by perrywings



Series: Uneven Odds/Light Two-Shot [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adoption, Found Family, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Inspired by Music, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23563561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perrywings/pseuds/perrywings
Summary: Part 1 of 2 in the Uneven Odds/Light Two-Shot. The two-shot itself is inspired by the songs Uneven Odds and Light by Sleeping At Last. Part 1 is inspired by Uneven Odds, and the title and a few lines are taken from lyrics from Sleeping At Last.Slight AU (UA?) where Shiro was mentored for a bit in the Galaxy Garrison by Keith's father, Akira "Tex" Kogane, who left after he graduated to become a firefighter. However, when Shiro was older, he and Keith's father reconnected, and Keith's father asks Shiro to be Keith's guardian in the event of his death. When Keith's father dies, it takes time, but after meeting Keith again when presenting at his school, Shiro takes in Keith.
Relationships: Keith & Keith's Father (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith's Father & Shiro (Voltron), minor shiro/adam - Relationship
Series: Uneven Odds/Light Two-Shot [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696009
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	In Spite Of The Uneven Odds

It had taken Shiro longer to get to this point than he would have liked, but he was here now. He could only hope that he wasn’t too late.

But it hadn’t started at this point.

It started with new rookie pilot cadet Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane getting a chance to be mentored by the legendary Akira “Tex” Kogane. To some, he was just some Japanese kid who got a strong enough Texan accent from his adopted family to earn the nickname “Tex” and got pretty good scores, but it was Tex who believed in Shiro despite his diagnosis and set aside time to personally train Shiro, which gave Shiro the confidence to be everything he could be. To him, Tex was his hero. But then Tex graduated and then rather than become an officer, he left the military and became a firefighter. They faded out of contact.

Until a few years ago, when Tex caught up with him. And as it turned out, he had a little boy who he had adored and a wife that had faded away, and had left to protect them from watching her fade. Just like Shiro himself would be doing, he had thought darkly. And Tex stayed in contact, rekindling his friendship with Shiro, and he asked Shiro to look after Keith if anything happened to him.

Tex had assured Shiro that nothing bad was going to happen to him, he just wanted to secure someone he trusted to be Keith’s guardian just in case, considering he was a firefighter after all. But Shiro saw the pain in Tex’s eyes and wasn’t so sure.

And, unfortunately, Shiro had been right, as the Kogane house caught on fire one night. 

Shiro jumped onto his bike and drove out to the Koganes’ house as soon as he heard. He arrived just in time for Tex to come stumbling out of the house. As soon as Tex saw him, he thrust Keith into his arms. “Thank God you’re here, Shiro. Keep him safe, I gotta go back in.”

Shiro caught Keith, who was small for his age. “Go back in? Akira, why?”

“I have to get it, and get the dog out,” said Akira. He ran back.

“Are you crazy? Tex, stop, don’t go back in, you don’t even have a mask!” one of the firefighters yelled.

“Dad!” Keith cried out.

But Akira still ran into the house.

And the dog came out, with a knife Keith immediately took, recognizing that it was all they had of his mom’s, but Akira didn’t come back out.

And as Keith screamed and cried in his arms, trying to escape to run in after him, Shiro held on, trying to comfort Keith, hoping Akira was just buried under some collapsed part of the house, praying his friend and mentor wasn’t dead.

Except, he was.

And when they pulled Keith away from him that night, he didn’t think they were doing anything but checking him for injuries. They did, but they also sent Keith into foster care. Shiro didn’t even find out until after they’d found the body, until after Akira Kogane’s funeral. And even after the will reading, when he had been legally proven as the preferred guardian for Keith, they weren’t even going to let him see Keith until he jumped through all of their hoops to prove himself a worthy guardian.

Adam had advised against doing this. He had eventually come around, and he was good to Keith, and Shiro had agreed to marry him when Adam proposed, but in hindsight, this had been the first major sign that Adam wasn’t the man Shiro was meant to marry. 

By the time he’d gotten through the red tape, Keith had found him, stealing the Garrison car while Shiro was distracted defending Keith and Akira to Keith’s dismissive teacher without snubbing the James Griffin kid. Yeah, Shiro wasn’t going to live that one down if any of his peers or superior officers found out about it.

And now he was here, picking up Keith and taking him home. Shiro sighed and drummed his fingers on the wheel of Adam’s car. He was nervous. He took a deep breath and got out of the car, walking up to the door and ringing the doorbell.

A tired-looking woman answered the door. “Yeah?”

“Hi, I’m Lieutenant Takashi Shirogane, I’m here for Keith?” said Shiro nervously.

“Good, you’re taking him off my hands,” said the woman. She turned and yelled into the house, “Keith! Mr. Shirogane’s here!”

Shiro was too busy trying to appear calm to correct her as Keith appeared at the doorway with just a duffel bag. “Hey.”

“Um, hi,” said Shiro. “You got everything? I’m not in a hurry if you want to say any goodbyes.”

Keith shrugged. “I got everything, I’m good to go.”

Yeah, Shiro decided Keith must not have been happy here. Hopefully, things would be better with Shiro. “Alright, let’s go.” He nodded to the woman and led Keith towards the car.

They were in the car and had already left the street when Keith said, “I know you. You came over to help the night Dad…”

“I did,” said Shiro. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“What took you so long?” Keith asked, clearly confused.

Shiro glanced at Keith briefly. “To get custody of you. I don’t know if you remember, but in the will your dad named me your preferred guardian, but they were uneasy about making an eighteen-year-old your guardian, so I had to jump a lot of hurdles.”

“They told me Dad never named a guardian,” said Keith.

Shiro sighed. “Well, if you don’t believe me, I can show you my copy when we get home. Your dad cared a lot about what would happen to you if something happened to him.”

“That does sound more like him,” said Keith. 

“Have you eaten dinner? I haven’t, so I was planning on stopping somewhere,” said Shiro.

“I haven’t eaten,” said Keith.

They ended up at a burger joint that was a staple of Shiro’s cadet Shore Leave days.

A few bites into his burger, and Keith suddenly frowned. “My dad’s taken me here a couple of times.”

Shiro nodded, unsurprised. “Your dad did his middle and high school years at the Galaxy Garrison. He was a great pilot. He mentored me in my first few years and he would take me here sometimes on Shore Leave weekends. We had a couple different places, but this was probably his favorite, I think. After he graduated and left, it became one of the places my friends and I frequented.”

“Why did he leave the Garrison?” Keith asked curiously.

Shiro shrugged. “He didn’t tell me all of his reasons, but he did mention he loved space but not the military.”

Keith seemed to accept the answer. “So you knew him well?”

“I did, at least at one point,” said Shiro. “We grew apart a bit after he graduated. And then when we got close again a few years ago, he was more… mysterious. Sad.” Shiro forced himself to smile. “But he was kind to me, and a good friend. And it was clear how much he loved you. If you ever want to visit him, we can.”

“What, like, his grave?” said Keith. “No one’s ever let me visit his grave yet.”

“That’s cruel,” said Shiro. “Listen, I know pretty much nothing about parenting, my aim is to be more of a friend or a brother, but I took you in because I want to make sure you’re taken care of and because Akira wanted me to. Clearly, you haven’t had it easy so far, but I want to make things better, if you’ll let me. If you want to go to your dad’s grave, we can do that.”

Keith nodded, not saying anything, but the tension eased out of his shoulders. They finished dinner in relative silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

On the drive home, Shiro said, “It’s just you and me at the apartment full-time, but I bet my boyfriend will be around often. We were living together, but the powers that be said he couldn’t live with me if you lived with me.”

“You can have one of those?” Keith asked.

“Well, the Garrison has pretty strict rules on fraternization, but we’re the same rank, and people knew we were dating as cadets, the Garrison can’t expect every couple to break up when they become officers just because we aren’t cadets anymore,” said Shiro.

“No, I mean, you have a boyfriend?” asked Keith.

“I do,” said Shiro carefully. “His name’s Adam. I’m gay. I hope that’s not going to be a problem for you.”

“No way Lieutenant Shirogane, boys are so hot,” said Keith.

Shiro laughed. “Just call me Shiro, Keith, everyone does. And yes, they are.” He frowned. “Speaking of names, I wasn’t a fan of the way your teacher treated you. Are you happy at that school?”

“Not really, but you don’t have to worry about that that Shiro, that’s normal, I’ll handle it,” said Keith.

“It’s really not, you don’t deserve to be talked about like that,” said Shiro. “Tomorrow I’ll transfer you to a new school, there’s one close to the base so it’ll be a shorter drive too. I know a lot of Garrison members’ kids or siblings attend there. You can finish out the year there, and then we’ll see. I think you’d make a fantastic pilot, but I’m not going to force you to apply to the Galaxy Garrison if you don’t want to.”

“I...I’ll think about it,” said Keith. 

When they made it back to the apartment, Shiro gave Keith a tour and helped Keith settle in. It became clear that he needed to take Keith clothes shopping to get clothes that fit him properly and weren’t worn out from changing hands so many times, and other necessities and things that would make him more comfortable, so Shiro mentioned he was also going to take Keith out shopping tomorrow. When he seemed overwhelmed, Shiro gave Keith some time to himself. Maybe Shiro was a little overwhelmed and needed that time himself. He finished some paperwork and texted Adam back. 

He passed by Keith’s room on the way to his own and poked his head in. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” said Keith. “Shiro...thank you, for everything. Even that night, you were the kindest. I remember everything about that night…”

Shiro sighed. “In my experience, you’ll always remember the moment he was taken away. I always will too, and my own parents’ deaths. It’s like the weight of the world on your shoulders. But, it gets easier to carry.”

Keith shook his head. “I don’t understand why he went back in.”

Shiro shook his head too. “No, I don’t expect you to understand. I’m not sure I understand either.” His grandparents had told Shiro _Just live what little life your broken heart can_ , but Shiro didn’t think Keith would find that all that comforting.

So instead Shiro sat down next to him and comforted Keith, and ignored his own feelings of loss for Tex. _Just live what little life your mended heart can._

When Keith fell asleep, Shiro tucked Keith into bed and quietly left. He sat down at his desk in his room and he started writing, and only after a few paragraphs did he realize it was a letter to Keith, something he could read when he was older, a letter saying all the things that Shiro wanted to say but Keith was too young for it. He had some of his innocence taken away from him, Shiro could tell, but Shiro wouldn’t take more. And suddenly, Shiro remembered something Akira told Shiro after Shiro told him he was sick as a kid. He ended the letter with a quote:

_You’re much too young now, so I’ll write these words down._

_“Darkness exists to make light truly count.” - Akira “Tex” Kogane_

**Author's Note:**

> Shiro gives the letter to Keith when he leaves for Kerberos. Keith reads it to the point where he has it memorized. It both helps and doesn’t, especially after the cover-up.


End file.
